Admission Waived At GA’s National Parks On Martin Luther King Jr. Day

GEORGIA — Places where Martin Luther King and others in the Civil Rights Movement made history are among 400 National Park Service facilities, including those in Georgia, that will waive admission fees on Monday in honor of King’s birthday.

MLK Day, observed every year on the third Monday of January, has been a federal holiday since 1986 and is a day off for many Americans. Facilities in Georgia that are waiving admission include:

• Andersonville National Historic Site, Andersonville
• The Appalachian Trail, a map of the trail is here
• Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, Atlanta
• Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, Fort Oglethorpe
• Cumberland Island National Seashore, St. Marys
• Fort Frederica National Monument, St. Simons Island
• Fort Pulaski National Monument, Savannah
• Jimmy Carter National Historic Park, Plains
• Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, Kennesaw
• Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Park, Atlanta
• Ocmulgee Mounds National Historic Park, Macon
• Trail Of Tears National Historic Trail, a map of the trail is here

MLK Day is the only federal holiday designated as a day of service. Some of the places with special volunteer opportunities for visitors include the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park in Atlanta; the Selma to Montgomery Historic Trail, which traces the footsteps of King and other civil rights activists in the 1965 Voting Rights March in Alabama; and the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., where King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech.

Some events in Georgia include:

• Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Day of Service, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Monday, Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, 3370 Lafayette Road, Fort Oglethorpe
• Acworth MLK Celebration and Day of Service, 8:30-11 a.m. Monday, at the Roberts School Community and Education Center, 4681 School St. A Unity Walk will end at the Acworth Community Center, 4361 Cherokee St., Acworth
• Cobb County Chapter of the NAACP MLK Day Celebration, 10 a.m. Monday, Jennie T. Anderson Theatre, 548 South Marietta Pkwy. SE, Marietta
• Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2024, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday, Atlanta History Center, 130 West Paces Ferry Road NW, Atlanta
• MLK Jr. Day Freedom Run Atlanta, first race starts at 7:30 a.m., Jan. 20, South Peachtree Creek Trail
• Martin Luther King Jr. Weekend, 9:30 a.m.-4:45 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Children’s Museum of Atlanta, 275 Centennial Olympic Park Drive, Atlanta
• MLK Day 5K-Drum Run, 8 a.m.-noon Monday, First Baptist Church of Doraville, 5935 New Peachtree Road, Doraville
• Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Art and Film Celebration, 1 p.m. Monday, Studio Theatre, 1 Galambos Way, Sandy Springs

Other free admission days at national parks in 2024 are:

• National Park Week
• June 19: Juneteenth National Independence Day
• Great American Outdoors Act
• Sept. 28: National Public Lands Day
• Nov. 11: Veterans Day